MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Vol. 2, No. 8 
Page 2 
locations, their average home ranges were quite large, averaging more than five 
times those of young-of-the-year males. 
Individual home ranges varied from 6.4 acres to 120.2 acres for adult 
females and from 5.0 to 52.4 acres for young-of-the-year females. Two adult males 
had home ranges which were 110.3 and 440.3 acres respectively. Home ranges of 
young-of-the-year males varied from 8.9 to 82.6 acres. Both young-of-the-year 
animals and adult females were captured repeatedly in only one or two traps over 
periods of up to 2 months while others ranged widely from day to day. Thus, the 
variation in sizes of individual home ranges and the fact that an animal may be 
captured repeatedly in a restricted area over a period of months indicated that 
opossums exhibit different types of movements. Some individuals, especially adult 
males, moved widely over the area while others restricted their movements to small 
areas, 
W-61-R-3 F. Greeley, J. Ellis 
The percent of ash in the femur and tibia bones of laying hen pheasants 
was determined. The per cent of ash in the bones was correlated with the amount 
of calcium in the diet (see table). The amount of ash in the bones declined from 
late April to early June, especially with restricted calcium intake. The femurs of 
road-killed wild hens in laying condition contained a higher per cent of ash 
(mineral) than the game-farm hens fed the highest level of calcium ( 2.34 per cent). 
The high per cent of ash in the bones of wild birds may have been due to early 
termination of egg production and onset of incubation, higher level of calcium in 
the diet, better assimilation of calcium from the digestive tract, or a more 
favorable ratio of calcium to phosphorus in the diet. All of these are known to 
effect the calcium content of the bone. 
Percentage of bone-ash in laying hen pheasants fed different amounts 
of calcium. 
Per Cent Calcium Number of _ Per Cent of Ash _ 
in Diet Hens Femur Tibia 
2+ (Pre-laying, controls) 
9 
66.77 + 0.27* 
63.54 ± 
0.59 
0.37 
10 
64.24 ± 0.86 
59.90 + 
0.66 
0.63 
10 
64.12 + 0.67 
60.36 + 
0.47 
1.09 
9 
65.27 + 0.78 
61.25 + 
0.55 
2.01 
10 
66.58 + 0.43 
62.06 _+ 
0.57 
2.34 
10 
66.98 + 0.31 
64.15 + 
0.59 
? (Wild, laying) 12 68.76 + 0.95 
* Mean + Standard Error 
